1,00,000+ Global cases in just 2 days

The number of confirmed coronavirus infections worldwide topped 6,00,000 on Saturday as new cases stacked up quickly in Europe and the United States and officials dug in for a long fight against the pandemic.

Agencies

March 29, 2020, 07:32 IST

Representational Image. (Reuters Photo) BERLIN: The number of confirmed coronavirusinfections worldwide topped 6,00,000 on Saturday as new cases stacked up quickly in Europe and the United States and officials dug in for a long fight against the pandemic.

The latest landmark came only two days after the world passed half a million infections, according to a tally by John Hopkins University, showing that much work remains to be done to slow the spread of the virus. It showed more than 640,000 cases and over 29,000 deaths. More than 130,000 people have recovered.

While the US now leads the world in reported infections — with more than 104,000 cases — five countries exceed its roughly 1,800 deaths: Italy, Spain, China, Iran and France. “We cannot completely prevent infections at this stage, but we can and must in the immediate future achieve fewer new infections per day, a slower spread,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is in quarantine at home after her doctor tested positive for the virus, told her compatriots in an audio message. “That will decide whether our health system can stand up to the virus.”

The virus already has put health systems in Italy, Spain and France under extreme strain. Lockdowns of varying severity have been introduced across Europe, nearly emptying streets in normally bustling cities, including Paris where drone photos showed the city’s landmarks eerily deserted. Merkel’s chief of staff, Helge Braun, said Germany — where authorities closed nonessential shops and banned gatherings of more than two in public — won’t relax its restrictions before April 20.

Spain, where stay-at-home restrictions have been in place for nearly two weeks, reported 832 more deaths on Saturday, its highest daily count yet, bringing its total to 5,690. Another 8,000 confirmed infections pushed that count above 72,000. Doctors, nurses and ambulance drivers in its worst-hit regions are working nonstop and falling ill at an alarming rate. More than 9,000 health workers in the country have been infected. “We are completely overwhelmed,” said paramedic Pablo Rojo at Barcelona’s Dos de Maig hospital. “Seven or eight (patients transported today) and all with Covid-19. ... And the average age is decreasing. They’re not 80 years old anymore, they are now 30 and 40 years old.”

Italy’s Covid-19 deaths are down slightly from the previous day. Civil Protection officials said there were 889 deaths in a 24-hour period ending Saturday evening in the country. That compares to 969 a day earlier, which was a oneday high in the country which has the world’s highest number of deaths of persons with confirmed cases of the coronavirus. The day-to-day rise in new cases was just under 6,000, about the same as the previous day’s figure. Overall, Italy has at least 92,472 cases of Covid-19. The current national lock-down decree expires on April 3, but health experts have said the need to try to contain contagion in the outbreak will likely last weeks beyond that.

In Britain, another member of Boris Johnson’s cabinet has developed symptoms of Covid-19, as the number of people with the coronovirus to die in the UK passed the 1,000 mark. Scottish secretary Alister Jack said he had symptoms of the disease and was self-isolating a day after the PM and Britain’s health secretary revealed they tested positive for the virus and were experiencing mild symptoms.

Countries are scrambling bring home some citizens stranded abroad by border closures and a near-shutdown of flights. On Saturday, 174 foreign tourists and four Nepali nationals in the foothills of Mount Everest were flown out days after being stranded on the only airstrip serving the world’s highest mountain.

President Trump invoked the Defence Production Act on Friday, ordering General Motors to begin manufacturing ventilators. Trump signed a $2.2 trillion stimulus package, after the House approved the sweeping measure. It will send cheques to millions of Americans, boost unemployment benefits, help businesses and toss a life preserver to an overwhelmed health care system.

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